End of an Era

So the title is a little dramatic but in a sense, it was the end of an era for Drew.  She attended the same grade school for kindergarten all the way through 6th grade.  At the end of the school year she was sad to say goodbye to McBride, and anxiously looked forward (?) to starting new at the middle school.  She had a great year, her favorite she said.  She was a daily helper in a kindergarten classroom, which happened to be the class Bree was in!  I know it brought Bree a ton of comfort to know she would see her sister at the beginning and end of school.  This was Drew's first year of band, taking on the clarinet, just like her mommy.  She actually wanted to play the sax but couldn't get a noise out of it when she tried it so she settled for the clarinet instead, which she ended up enjoying.  Drew is a TAG math student so she and a good friend were pretty much on their own teaching themselves 7th and 8th grade math.  She takes after her dad in that department.  I'm so proud of Drew and all her accomplishments in the 6th grade!

Mason had an extremely rough start to his 4th grade year but ended on a great note.  Once he was able to get the anxiety under control and settle in to his teacher's ways and expectations he was able to excel like usual.  That being said, I think we were both extremely grateful he (we) survived the year with our sanity still in check.

Darcy had a great year, like usual.  She is just as driven as her big sister.  Darcy sees things in black and white, with little gray area.  That makes it difficult with social nuances, and she is still trying to navigate those waters.  I love her sense of right and wrong but it did cause for some friend drama this year.  If only girls could be nice and uplifting to one another instead of trying to drag each other down.  Darce was very sad to see the school year end.

Bree loved kindergarten, I think.  She can be up, down, and all over the place at times.  She loved her teacher, we will say :)  She has her numbers and basic addition down, and is not quite the reader I would like her to be, but she'll get there.  I was proud of her efforts all year.  It takes a lot out of a little body to be in school 6.5 hours a day, 5 days a week.

And the end of the school year marked the end of my first year as a Title 1 reading assistant at Lewis and Clark grade school.  I've been scoring essays on-line for 12 years but this was my first foray back into the work place since just before Drew was born.  I loved it!  And hated it at times, I will admit.  Well, lets just say I never woke up dreading going to work :)  At the start of the year I was in a room with other Title teachers running half-hour reading groups.  When we got back from Disney World my assignment was changed to working only with the kindergartners in their classrooms.  So I was encroaching on their territory which made it very difficult to command their respect as a teacher since their regular teacher was also in the room.  It was also their homeroom so there were many times other things much more interesting were going on than listening to boring Mrs. Erickson trying to teach them how to read.  I vastly preferred my first assignment, working with k-4th graders, but I survived, and I loved the feeling of contributing to society again.  But I can tell you now, I would NEVER be a kindergarten teacher.  Those are some choice souls who take that class on on a full-time basis!

All in all it was a memorable year, and the only year all 4 kids will be in the same school.  My that was handy.  Its all logistical chaos from now until Bree graduates in 2028!